Girls' Generation (hangul: 소녀시대, Romanized: Sonyeo Sidae) is a nine-member South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment in 2007. The nine members are: Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun. They are often referred to asSoShi (소시), or SNSD (mainly outside Korea), the first of which is an abbreviation and the second an acronym of the group's Korean name So Nyeo Shi Dae. In China, they are known as 少女時代 (Shàonǚ Shídài; or Siu Nui Si Doi in Hong Kong) and in Japan as 少女時代 (Shōjo Jidai).
The group has released two full albums, three mini-albums, and various singles. Their 2009 hit single "Gee" holds the record for being the longest running #1 song on KBS's Music Bank, having held the #1 chart ranking for 9 consecutive weeks.[1] 2009 and 2010 also saw the group winning various awards, including consecutive Artist of the Year (Daesang) awards at the Seoul Music Awards, Golden Disk Awards, Melon Music Awards, and the Korean Cultural Entertainment Awards.
The group began a foray into the Japanese music scene in late 2010 under Nayutawave Records, a part of Universal Music, with the Japanese remakes of their 2009 Korean hits "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)" and "Gee".[2] 2010 saw the group reach considerable success in Japan, and solidifying their title as the "National Girl Group" in Korea after winning the prestigious Disk Daesang (Album of the Year) and Artist of the Year at the Golden Disk Awards and Melon Music Awards respectively.[3] The group was certified gold by the RIAJ twice in Japan, while their yearly album sales in Korea surpassed 300,000, a feat which was last achieved by TVXQ in 2008, earning them the tile of the best-selling artist of 2010.[4]
History
Pre-Debut
The members were professionally trained primarily in singing, dancing and languages, while a select few also underwent further training in acting and modeling. Many of the members had already made appearances in magazine ads, television commercials, and small television appearances. For nearly two years, Korean websites speculated about which female SM Entertainment trainees would be placed into the group.[5]
2007–2008: Debut and First Album
In July 2007, Girls' Generation had their unofficial first stage performance on M.Net's School of Rock where the group performed their first single, titled "Into the New World" (Korean: "다시 만난 세계", Dasi Mannan Segye). A documentary recording the story of the group's debut titled M.Net's Girls Go To School was filmed during this time, showing the members as they moved into an apartment together and prepared for their performances. The group's first single was physically released soon after, including an instrumental of the group's debut song and two other tracks; "Beginning" and "Perfect for You". The latter's Korean title is "Wish" (Korean: "소원", SoWon), which later became the name of Girls' Generation's official fan-club (stylized: S♡NE). The group's debut and first ever promotions began on August 5, 2007, first performing on SBS's Inkigayo and then later on MBC's Show! Music Core and KBS's Music Bank. "Into the New World" achieved #1 spot on M.net M.Countdown!.
The group released their first self-titled full album in late autumn 2007 with the lead single "Girls' Generation" (Korean: "소녀시대"), a remake of Lee Seung-cheol's 1989 hit. Promotion for the single started in early November. The album also included the group's first single Into the New World, "Perfect For You" retitled as "Honey", and 8 other tracks by the group. In early 2008, Girls' Generation began promoting their second single from the album, "Kissing You", which won the group their first k-chart win after getting the number one position on the KBS Music Bank February chart.[6]
In March 2008, the album was re-packaged, re-released and re-titled Baby Baby. A third single, "Baby Baby", was used to promote the album. During the group's promotions, members Jessica, Tiffany and Seohyun were also featured on a mini-album released by Roommate, a one-man band from Purple Communication. The mini-album was titled Roommate: Emotional Band Aid, and was released on December 1, 2008. The 3rd track from the mini-album was performed by the 3 Girls' Generation members and is titled "Oppa Nappa" (Korean: "오빠 나빠", literally "Bad Brother", although contextually it refers to an older male friend). The track was digitally released before the album was, coming out in April 2008 and topping several charts. The song was performed live on SBS Inkigayo and M.net'sM.countdown some time later.[7][8] Later in the year the three members released "Mabinogi (It's Fantastic!)" together as the theme song for the Nexon game Mabinogi, with Tiffany participating in the music video.[9]
It was announced in autumn 2008 that Girls' Generation would be starring in a reality show on M.net, titled Factory Girl. The show chronicles the members working as interns at fashion magazine Elle Girl.[10] The articles the group worked on were actually featured in the Korean Elle Girl magazine. The program began airing in early October.[11] In Late 2008, the group also participated in the SM Town Live '08 concert along with other SM Town artists.
2009: Gee, Genie and other activities
On December 26, 2008, posters of the Girls' Generation members sporting simple white shirts, jeans and roller-skates were posted up in various locations around Seoul. The posters were met with such popularity that SM Entertainment's phone-lines were blocked up by callers asking whether the posters were for sale and the company was forced to ask fans to stop taking the posters down for personal use.[12] Three days later on December 29, the group's management confirmed that the posters were indeed teaser posters and that the group would soon release their first EP, The First Mini Album – Gee the following month in January 2009.[13]
A teaser video was released in January 2009 and the first single "Gee" released soon after. Gee was met with instant popularity, topping Cyworld's hourly music chart on the release day.[14] The song also went #1 on all major digital music charts within two days.[15] The music video set a record on release, garnering 1 million views on GomTV in under a day. The music video became the first to reach "Diamond Track" status on GomTV after breaking the 5 million view mark on January 16. The music video now has over 34,000,000 views on youtube, snatching the spot for the most viewed video in Korea.[16]
The group began its album promotion on January 2009 on MBC Show! Music Core where they sang their new lead single, "Gee", as well as the track "Himnae (Way To Go)", another song from their mini-album.[17] Gee went on to become a phenomenal hit, breaking the record for consecutive no.1 wins on Music Bank with 9 consecutive wins, as well as receiving a triple crown on SBS Inkigayo. The track also showed strength on other charts, topping the Mujikon, Melon and M.Net charts for 8 consecutive weeks, the Dosirak chart for 7 weeks, the Muse chart for 6 weeks and the Baksu chart for 4 weeks.[18][19]
After a short break, SM Entertainment announced that the group would be back with a new mini-album sporting a "Marine Girl" concept. The new single was to be titled "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)" (Korean: "소원을 말해봐", literally "Tell Me Your Wish"); with the full mini album being released digitally on June 22, 2009.[20][21] The group started their promotional activities on June 26, 2009, recording KBS's Music Bank.[22] The performance was followed by follow-up comeback performances on MBC's Music Core and SBS's Inkigayo on June 27 and 28, 2009. The physical release of Geniewas delayed by SM Entertainment in order to redo the album art, and was released 4 days later on June 29, 2009.[20]
The track proved to be a success as it conquered various music sites like Melon, Dosirak, MNet, Bugs and it was No.1 on the weekly charts and SKT ringtone weekly charts of the first week of July.[23]The mini-album sold an estimated 50,000+ copies in its first week after release (almost double the numbers from the first-week sales of "Gee"), an unusual feat for any Korean girl group.[24]
Their first No.1 award for "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)" was on KBS Music Bank on July 10, 2009.[25][26] Their second award was claimed on SBS's Inkigayo on July 12, 2009, and their third on the 16th on the same show.[27] The group finished up promoting for "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)" in August 2009.
2010: Second Album, Japanese debut and Hoot
Later in January, SM Entertainment confirmed the release of Oh!, the group's second full-length album to be released on January 28.[28] The lead single "Oh!", was digitally released on January 25 with the music video being released two days later.[29] The song proved to be popular topping various charts upon release.[30] On January 30, the group started promotions with the recording of MBC's Show! Music Core.[31] The broadcast of the performance experienced a blackout near the end, to which MBC made the whole performance available online in response.[32] With 'Oh!', the group went on to win 5 consecutive K-charts on KBS Music Bank, as well as achieving a triple crown on SBS Inkigayo.[33] 'Oh!' also went on to win Music Bank's half-year K-chart, coming in at 2nd on Hanteo's first half album sales chart,[34] and also winning the end-of-year K-chart, proving to be the most successful release of the year[35] The music video also proved to be popular, ranking as the number one most viewed youtube video in Korea by the end of 2010. It was also #1 in Hong Kong and made the top 10 in both the Taiwan and Japan rankings.[36]
Starting from March 11, 2010, photos of the members were released online showcasing a dark concept, dubbed "Black SoShi".[37] A teaser video was released on March 16, with the new single Run Devil Run being released as a digital single on March 17.[34][38] The music videos for both "Oh!" and "Run Devil Run" made it into GOMTV's 2010 First Half Top 10 ranking, the group having attracted over 13 million views in 6 months combined.[39]
Mid-June, it was announced that the group had signed contracts in May, and would begin working under Universal Music Japan's record label Nayutawave Records for their Japanese promotions, with their first Japanese single expected to be released in September 2010.[40][41][42] Girls' Generation began promotion in Japan in August. "少女時代到来～初来日記念盤～" (Girls' Generation's Arrival ～ First Time in Japan Commemoration Disc ～), a DVD featuring seven of the group's music videos as well as special bonus footage was released on August 11, with the special edition of the DVD containing a pink glowstick as well as a pass to the Girls' Generation debut at the Tokyo Ariake Colliseum on August 25.[43] According to Universal Music Japan, the DVD had reached considerable success even before physical release, the pre-orders having sold out.[44] In the first week after release, the DVD sold 23,000 copies, making no.4 on the weekly DVD Oricon ranking and no.3 on the weekly music DVD ranking,[45] making Girls' Generation the first female k-pop group to make the Oricon DVD Top-5 ranking.[46]
Amidst their Japanese activities, the group also participated in the SMTown Live '10 World Tour alongside their label-mates on August 21 at Seoul Jamsil Olympic Stadium.[47] And then in Shanghai and Los Angeles on later dates.[48]
On August 25, the group held their first showcase in Tokyo Ariake Colliseum.[49] With an initial 10,000 fans invited, it was reported to be the most large-scale plan for a Korean artist debuting in Japan.[43] However, due to high number of expected attendees, the group's management announced that the showcase would take place three times in the same day rather than once to accommodate the estimated 20,000 fans.[50] The group sang 5 of their Korean tracks at each of the showcases, the total number of attendees over all three shows estimated to be at least 22,000.[51] At this showcase, the Genie Japanese music video was also revealed publicly for the first time, the teaser having been released a few days prior on August 20.[52]
Their Japanese debut single "Genie" peaked at the #5 spot on the same day of its release on the Oricon Charts and later rose to the #2 position some time later, earning the group a #4 position on the Oricon weekly ranking.[53][54][55] The group also hit the number #1 spots on Japan iTunes' music video chart and both the Rekochoku daily video clip chart and incoming movie daily ranking chart a day later.[2] With pre-orders amounting to 80,000, the single sold an estimated 45,000 copies in the first week after release.[56][57] The single also placed high on Japan's Billboard chart, ranking #4 on the comprehensive Hot 100 chart, #5 on the Hot Single Sales Chart and #1 on the Hot Top Airplay chart.[53] On October 20, 2010, the group released their second Japanese single, "Gee".[58][59] The popularity of the two singles saw the group receive acknowledgments from Japanese rankings websites toward the end of 2010, including the "Rookie Album of the Year" from Japan iTunes and the "Best Single Award" from BigGlobe Music Awards.[60][61][62][63]
A week after the release of their Japanese single, the group released their third Korean mini-album, Hoot on October 27, 2010, consisting of five tracks.[64] The music video for the lead single, "Hoot", was released on October 28.[65] Girls' Generation commenced their promotional activities with a comeback stage on KBS's Music Bank on October 29.[66] "Hoot" quickly rose to the top of the charts and received the #1 spot numerous times on music shows, proving to be another successful release for the group.[67][68][69][70] The group simultaneously promoted "Hoot" and "Gee" in Korea and Japan respectively, participating in Japanese music broadcasts such as the FNS Music Festival, where they performed their two hit Japanese singles, "Gee" and "Genie" on December 4.[71]
On December 22, 2010, "Hoot" was repackaged with additional tracks from previous albums and released in Japan. The release rose to the #2 position on the Oricon charts and selling 21,000 copies on the first day, faring surprisingly well considering the track itself is entirely in Korean.[72]
Due to the group's high rate of success during the year, the end-of-year awards ceremonies saw Girls' Generation receiving a number of awards. On December 9, 2010, the group attended the Golden Disk Awards, being awarded three awards including the Disk Daesang (Album of the Year) for their 2nd album Oh!. The group became the also first ever to have both a Disk Daesang and Digital Daesang, having received the latter in 2009 for their hit "Gee".[3] On December 15, 2010, the group attended the Melon Music Awards winning the Best Dressed Singer award, Hot Trend Song award for their latest song, "Hoot", as well as the prestigious Artist of the Year award. This would be the 2nd consecutive 'Artist of the Year' award for the group. They topped the Hanteo annual Singer Awardchart for 2010.[73] On December 27 SNSD was chosen "Star of the Year", Most Influential Artist in the Industry by Sports Korea.[74] They were named on Asia Today’s list of 50 Korean power leaders for 2011 at the #44 spot, being the only idol group from the list.[75] Girls' Generation was designated "Artist of the Year" by Dosirak, Soribada, Korea Gallup, Hanteo and Sport Korea and also won Best Song of The Year with "Oh!" at Monkey 3.[76][77][78][79][80][81][82] Girls' Generation were chosen by the newest Japanese poll NTT docomo – Mina no Koe as the Most Beautiful Girl Group with 6,731 votes, beating out fellow Korean girl group Kara and Japanese girl group AKB48.[83]
2011–present
Gaon Chart revealed that their first live album Into the New World peaked the #1 spot on the same day of its release.[citation needed] The group released the music video for the song "Beautiful Girls" on January 5, 2011 featuring Yoo Young-jin.[84]
Hoot was already been certified Gold by RIAJ.[85] Also, Universal Music Japan recently updated their news page stating that the Japanese version of "Run Devil Run" will be released as a Chaku-uta or mobile ringtone on January 18, 2011. The song will also be available via digital download on January 25, 2011. Although no official date or word was given for an official single release, fans can assume that a Japanese version of "Run Devil Run" will eventually hit stores sometime in the near future.The ladies of SNSD have also prepared a new song titled “Visual Dreams“, as part of their endorsement efforts for Intel.[86]
They will be returning to the Japanese market through the release of their Japanese version of "Run Devil Run" as a digital single. The single will be released on January 25, 2011.[87] On January 20, SNSD "Gee" Chaku-UTA full has been certified as Platinum by Record Industry Association of Japan.
On January 20, 2011, Girls' Generation swept the 20th Seoul Music Awards, returning victorious with an Artist of the Year award, a Bonsang prize, a Popularity award and a Hallyu award. In doing this, Girls' Generation became one of four artists in Korean music history (the others being Seo Taiji, Jo Sungmo and H.O.T.) to win two consecutive Artist of the Year awards at the Seoul Music Awards, they are the only girl group to achieve a triple crown in of Artist of the Year awards for Seoul Music Awards, Melon Music Awards and Golden Disk Awards.[88]
Members
- Taeyeon (태연) born March 9, 1989 as Kim Tae-Yeon (김태연)[89]
- Jessica (제시카) born April 18, 1989 as Jessica Jung (제시카 정), Korean name Jung Soo-Yeon (정수연)[89]
- Sunny (써니) born May 15, 1989 as Lee Soon-Kyu (이순규)[90]
- Tiffany (티파니) born August 1, 1989 as Stephanie Hwang (스테파니 황), Korean name Hwang Mi-Young (황미영)[89]
- Hyoyeon (효연) born September 22, 1989 as Kim Hyo-Yeon (김효연)[89]
- Yuri (유리) born December 5, 1989 as Kwon Yu-Ri (권유리)[89]
- Sooyoung (수영) born February 10, 1990 as Choi Soo-Young (최수영)[89]
- Yoona (윤아) born May 30, 1990 as Im Yoon-A (임윤아)[89]
- Seohyun (서현) born June 28, 1991 as Seo Joo-Hyun(서주현)[91]
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